Again, we are a year older. Not every day will be a party but we can always try to make the best of it. If it is not possible today, then maybe tomorrow. Every day you can make a new start and a bad moment is therefore not a bad day…

“Dew drops” look like small gems and are always beautiful, in reality or drawn on your tiles. Long ago, they have found a place in the Zentangleworld and they are not difficult to beautify your work:

Two simple monotiles, brightened up with a few dew drops by Lynn Mead:

Every week, another tangle is popping up, out of the “Magic Bag” of the Facebookgroup Square one. A while ago, Mazorito was appearing. It was pleasant to see so many different interpretations, too much to show all of them. I always draw this tangle in a circle but quite unexpectedly I even saw my pattern in grids. I would never have thought of doing that , but I loved it. Also the “owl ” by Chris Titus was quite surprising. In the meantime I know already a lot of tangles but it is so cool to discover how people can “play” with patterns and make something totally different from an existing tangle:

and Mazorito according to Christine Courtois:

Challenges remain captivating and instructive.

Always searching for new tangles, I found inspiration in donuts. In the U.S.A. they even have a national donut day. All over the world, you can find some family of this pastry. On the last day of the year, “Oliebollen” are eaten in the Netherlands. Both the French and the Belgians love “Beignets”, preferably filled with apples. In Germany the” Berliner Bol “is very well known and in Portugal and Spain we have the “Churro’s “… Also on the other side of the world, in South Africa, “Vetbollen ” are available, and in the Far East you’ll find similar fried snacks. Almost every country has its own recipe and its own name. I like the Italian name”Zeppole” and therefore I chose Zeppo as name for my new tangle that was inspired by this little “guilty pleasure “

Zeppo is a very simple pattern: you start with 2 circles: a larger and a smaller inside. Six small Tipples encircle the bigger ones. In the inner circle you draw some shadow. Each “donut” is connected by the Tipples. You can go further regularly or irregularly, like a pendulum or a filler. In The 2 examples you can see clearly see through the “donuts ” and discover stripes and perfs. On the tan coloured tile you will recognize Zeppo Nipa, CO2 and Pebbles flower.

Drawing in a spiral, always gives beautiful results. Many have already proven that. Click on this link . That’s why I decided to make my next tile in such a spiral: a combination of Zeppo and Caviar.

I wish everyone a lot of fun with this playful tangle! Doing something you like is important. It is wonderful to come into a flow and forget the time and your worries… yes sometimes that happens and before I know it is usually midnight and time to go to sleep. On the Internet, there is so much information available. Everyone can learn from everyone. Recently, I discovered the beautiful wooden art of Gabriel Schama and I recognize a link with Zentangleart:

On the last picture, I saw immediately a pattern that we call Verve. I also used that piece as a frame for my tile below, on which you can also find Zanda, Copada and Henna Drum:

And another one that I send to Square one with Love Handles, Membranart and Blooming Butter:

Something very different, however, is Maria Tovar’s technique. She is drawing with an “embossing pen “. I liked that immediately and of course I had to try that too. Below you see 2 simple tiles made with an embossing pen, following Maria’s manual. I’m sure, I will experiment more:

One with Cross Ur Hearts

And one with Arullo, mirrored 4 times with a touch of colour

During the 12 days challenge of Zentangle.com we were able to follow step by step how a “Spinner ” was built with original tangles. Consciously, no new tangles were drawn, but old familiar patterns and you could follow how the shadow was applied everywhere. I made two of them: one original and one with my chosen tangles:

If next time I don’t know which tangles to combine, I’ll simply let the spinner do his job.

In 2019, CZT seminars will also be organised in Europe. (Frankfurt). People from all the world are connected by the Zentanglemethod and the big family is growing each year… Every day, new ideas from every corner of the world appear on our screens. We all can learn from each other and use the new knowledge in our own work! That is wonderful and I wanted to show that in my first blogpost of 2019!

Sometimes I don’t want to follow the news, so many negative messages, but fortunately there are also positive messages. Below you can see 100 optimistic discoveries, created in 2018 and that’s fine to know:

8 Comments

A wonderful post with versatile beautiful tiles, dear Ria! I don’t know, what my favorite could be, maybe your gorgeous Verve tile. I also like your spinners, especially your individual variation. It is nice to find your new Zeppo on the Musterquelle, it can be used in so many ways.

A wonderful aspect of Zentangleart is that we can all learn so much from each other and that we can find inspiration everywhere. That is what I wanted to show in this first post. I like all those useful tutorials on the Internet, I like Schama’s work who inspired me to make that tile with his gorgeous Verve, I like Maria Tovar’s technique… For me, every day is a new challenge and I try to make the best of it. I’m sure you do that also and I’m always glad to see popping up your name on challenges. Thank you very much for your positiv feedback !!!

I love your blog, Ria, and this time is absolutely beautiful. The tangles are all fantastic, and the wood workings took my breath away. But I think my favorite, this time, is the video of the 100 discoveries. Amazing stuff going on in the scientific world, for sure! What really touched me, tho, and actually brought tears to my eyes, was the mention of so much that is being done to try and repair the damage we humans have done to our world. That just plain makes me happy, and gives me a lot of hope for the future for my grandchildren, as well as my greatgrandchildren. So thank you for giving me tears, lol!!

I’m glad you like the wood workings, me too find Schama’s work breathtaking and as you could see,it is a great inspiration for tanglers…It was my son Bram who has found this video of the 100 discoveries. You know he has his limits, due to that caraccident but he always does his best to stay optimist. Me too am sometimes depressed when I put on the TV but that video is also the truth and it good to know also the positiv news…
This time, I’m happy to have given you tears. Thank you so much dear Joyce for your comment.

Happy new year and all the best for your move, dear Ria!
Wonderful and very inspiring post again … I enjoy your posts eyery time.
This time my favourite is your lovely tile with Verve … wonderful colours and great use of Verve!
Your new tangle Zeppo is wonderful, too! I just have reserved it for Musterquelle.

I’m glad you like my posts. I do my best to search for interesting items for the visitors. As you can see, the way that I have drawn Verve is inspired on Schama’s work. Also Maria Tovar’s technique is worthwhile to tryout, gives a special effect! Sharing things and techniques with each other is a very nice aspect of the Zentanglecommunity. I’m grateful for al those wonderful tutorials on the Internet…
Thank you very much for putting Zeppo on the Musterquelle. Almost daily I visit the Musterquelle and have found there many lovely patterns, you do a great job over there and so you did on your new frontpage!!!